A Family
by Elizabeth Scarlette
Summary: A different take on how Shelby gets Rachel. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**Ok so i came up with this a couple of days ago but was too scared to post it haha cause it is sort of a different take. but i would love it if you would let me know what you think :)**

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My phone rang over and over again but I could barely hear it over my cries. I hurt so much emotionally that I had begun to writhe in physical pain. Finally I reached for my phone. Glaring at the name on the caller i.d. I answered. He had called 15 times already so it was obvious that he was hell-bent on getting a hold of me.

"What do you want?" I snapped.

"_Are you ok_?"

"What the hell do you think? I just had to tell my daughter- _my_ daughter that I didn't want her! I had to lie to her face, break her heart, all because of a stupid contract!"

"_Shelby_," he paused, "_I'm coming over._"

"Oh so now you've started inviting yourself over places?" I asked incredulously.

"_You need someone right now. Someone to cry to. Someone to hold you. I know you wont call anyone so I'm coming over._" His voice was calm.

"I don't want you to hold me," I snapped but that was a lie. I wanted nothing more than for him to hold me and let me cry into his chest and play with my hair the way he always used to.

"_Then I won't, but I'm still coming over. I'll be there in fifteen minutes._"

"Whatever." He was going to come and get in no matter what I wanted, so I knew it would be futile to say no.

True to his word he was there fifteen minutes later. The doorbell rang but I knew it was only common courtesy and he was going to use the key that I behind the loose board above the door. I couldn't get up even if I wanted to. I was curled up in bed crying my eyes out. I felt ridiculous but I had seriously just lost my last reason for living. Slowly he made his way to my bedroom and over to my bed, he reached out to touch me and I flew backwards.

"Shell," he sighed.

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT! DON'T YOU DARE GIVE ME THAT! This is all your fault!" I was even worse now and began throwing the pillows at him. He had added to my heartbreak by showing up. Just by the sight of his face. I felt like I was going to fall apart at the seams. Then I lunged for him and punched his chest over and over again as he tried to envelope me in his arms. "No! No! I don't want you to hold me! I don't want you to touch me! How could you do this to me? If you ever loved me-"my resolve immediately fell as he finally succeeded in wrapping his arms around me. The warmth of his arms, the safety, was still there no matter how mad I was at him. "If you ever loved me, how could you do this to me? How could you break me like this?" I cried into his chest. Suddenly the rage was back and I pushed hard against him but he wasn't going to budge.

"Shhhhh….. Shell, It's ok… It's ok." He whispered in my ear as he stroked his hand over my hair and onto my back. I cursed my body as a shiver ran down my spine at his breath on my ear. How could my body do this? If I was so angry at him, if I hated him, why was I still responding to his touch? Why was I still slightly aroused, even through all of the pain both physical and emotional? But I guess part of that is a lie. I don't hate him. I hate what he did. What _they_ did. I still love him though, and that made me angrier! How could he do this to me? I loved him for pete's sake! That's the real reason why I haven't dated in more than three years is because no one I ever dated would, or could for that matter, ever touch what he had meant to me. Hell, if I still loved him after all that he put me through….. Ugh!

"Don't call me that!" I shouted as I managed to push away from him and move across the room looking very much like a frightened, cornered animal. "Don't call me that," this time it was barely a whisper.

"Why not?" graciously he had respected my space and stayed where he was.

"Really? Like you don't know," I spat and glared at him. He genuinely did look confused though. "That's what you called me when we we- when you loved me. Or, at least, when you said that you did." I looked down at my feet. The tears had slowed to a trickle but were still constant. In three large strides he had me against the wall, my face tilted upward to look at him. He cupped my face in his hands, softly running his thumbs across my cheeks collecting the tears there. There were tears in his eyes and I knew it. He was going to lie to me.

"I did. I did love you. I still do," he whispered.

"NO!" I pushed away yet again and stood in the middle of the room so he couldn't corner me again. "You aren't going to ruin this for me!"

"WHAT?" he was frustrated now, and I was slightly relieved that we were arguing. It was better, at least for my composure, to fight with him rather than him trying to hold me. "Just exactly what will I ruin? Your bad mood?"

"What's left of me! The one thing that has held me together the one thing that has kept Shelby Corcoran's supposed unbreakable heart from shattering! The lie that I finally mad myself believe! The lie that makes it hurt less!"

"And what's that?" he spat.

"That you never loved me." his face fell. "That you were only trying to comfort me in my time of need. Or that you had only convinced yourself that you loved me because I was carrying your child! I mean what man doesn't love the woman carrying _his_ child? Does he even know, Hiram? Does Leroy know that she is really yours? Half-love child?"

"What is that supposed to mean 'half-love child'?"

"That is supposed to mean that I really did love you whether you did or not. I really fell in love with you. I still love you." I turned my face to the ground. "And you know what? That frustrates the hell out of me! First, you took Rachel away from me, I didn't even get to touch her! I didn't get to rock her, or even nurse her, once! Not even once! I was hurting so bad, and you had left me and you had taken her with you. I begged you to please let me hold her. But you didn't."

"I was trying to do what was best for you." I scoffed. "I didn't want you to get too attached."

"Oh and growing her inside my body for nine months didn't 'get me too attached'?"

"Leroy was going to drag you through every court until he got his way. I couldn't put you though that."

"Leroy? Leroy was going to put me through that? What about you, huh? You would have been right by his side!"

"I begged him, _begged_ him, Shell, to burn the contract. To let you see her. To let you be her mother, we could all three raise her."

"Somehow I can't believe that. He always gave you anything you wanted."

"No, he didn't. He isn't this great man, Shell."

"Never said I thought he was."

"And then I begged him not to make you stop talking to her now. But he just b- he just said no. he wouldn't budge. Do you think that I would be here right now if I didn't care about you?"

I had nothing to say to that and he closed the distance between us and pulled me into his arms. I don't know if it was his tone of voice, his eyes, or my incredible trust in this man, but I believed him.

"C-can you stay the night so we can talk tomorrow? I have a pounding headache, I'm afraid I'll say something rude and make all of this worse." I whispered into his chest.

He chuckled slightly, "You always were a little snippy when you had a headache." I punched his gut but didn't move out of his arms. "Ouch! But yes, I'll stay."

"Thank you." I pulled away to look him in the eye. Then give him a once over. "Dang! Fifteen years has done nothing to you. Still as sexy as ever!" I joked but he grew serious and I was afraid I had overstepped the line. But at the way his eyes hungrily roamed my body, I knew that I hadn't.

"You too," he growled. "You know, I really did love you," he cradled my cheek and I failed at trying not to lean into it. "I still love you." I scoffed, and he pulled me closer. "No really, I think about you every night. How I used to hold you when you would have nightmares. How you smiled at me whenever I would tap your foot under the tables at meals. How we would make love when Leroy wasn't home. That week when he was gone and you barely let me out of bed for two days because your pregnancy hormones were going crazy. How cute you looked snuggled up to me. How gorgeous your voice was as you sang in the shower. The time when you were seven months pregnant and-"

"Huge," I deadpanned. He chuckled.

"No. The time when you were seven months pregnant and we took a shower together, and you let me bathe you because you couldn't really do it yourself. I remember how self-conscious you were."

I smiled through the new wave of tears that arose at the memories. "You kissed every inch of me, just to make me feel beautiful. Then you told me that I wasn't fat and that-"

"You had never been more beautiful because you were carrying our child."

"I assumed you meant yours and Leroy's and got hurt."

"You didn't show it."

"I didn't want to ruin what little time we had left."

"You know I meant ours as in you and me." I choked on a sob but quickly got it back down. "I was going to leave him you know? I was going to run away with you and Rachel."

"Why didn't you? Why didn't you ask me?"

"Because I was afraid."

"Of what?"

"Leroy. He would hurt me, Shell."

I gasped, "Does he do it now?"

"Not as often."

"Rachel?"

"No, no he wouldn't ever lay a hand on her, unless I told. He knows she's the only way he can get to me."

"My baby," I cried jumping up and grabbing some shoes.

"Where are you going?" he asked grabbing my arm.

"To get our baby, Hiram! Does he know you're here?"

"No I don't think so."

"I wouldn't underestimate him. He knew about us. He threatened to kill me if I kept seeing you. And I believed him."

"That's why-"

"Yes. He made it clear that you loved him and that I was never going to change that. He told me you were just being nice. That's why I wouldn't let you touch me that last month I was getting myself ready for the let down."

"And you believed him?"

"I was twenty! It wasn't as if I had ever done that before! Now, we have to go get Rachel. He probably doesn't know, but just in case."

"Ok but I have to do something first."

"What?" I whined getting inpatient. He stepped toward me and ran a hand around my neck pulling me in to a kiss. It was sweet at first but then escalated as he ran his tongue over my lips. I parted them eagerly and we couldn't get close enough to each other. The passion reignited within our bodies. _Rachel._ I pushed away slightly. "Rescue our daughter now. Make up sex later." I giggled as he brushed his lips against mine again, but suddenly fear gripped me. "Are you going to be here for later? Or are you going ba-" he cut me off with a kiss.

"You, Rachel, and I will make a great family."

"Won't that be weird? For her I mean."

"Maybe, but if we explain the circumstances," at my distressed look his lips grazed mine again, "We'll make this work. Now let's go get our baby." I nodded and we rushed to his house, in his car.

When we got there we heard a crash and the unmistakable scream of our daughter, followed by, "Dad! Why are you doing this? Ahhhhhhhhh!" another crash. We couldn't get the door open, a glance inside said he had barricaded it. "Daddy! Daddy, help me!"

"Your father is out, Rachel," he spat. "You want to know with who?" she whimpered and we busted through the window.

"Get your damn hands off my daughter!" I screamed lunging at him but Hiram got to him first. Tackling him to the ground, and causing him to drop Rachel. I quickly averted my path to her. I crouched down beside her and scooped her into my arms, rocking her back and forth. I dialed 9-1-1 and waited for someone to answer. I gave them the emergency and the address and hung up quickly picking her up and carrying her to the back corner of the room, pulling the recliner to block us from the men currently taking part in a rather bloody fight. She curled tighter into my chest.

"Mommy," she whimpered and I held her closer but not tighter, as I didn't know what that man had done to her. I prayed silently that Hiram would be ok and thanked God when I heard the sirens nearing the house. One last punch was thrown and you could hear the impact of fist with body and then body with ground. _Crap, _I thought because now they wouldn't be focused on the fight and there was no way to tell who had remained conscious. I shifted as best as I could putting her in between me and the wall but the girl held tight to my shirt so I turned and curled my body over hers. Gladly willing to take any beatings Leroy had for her, myself. He was _not _going to hurt my child.

The recliner moved and I braced myself for a fist but instead two very strong and very warm arms pulled me into their owner's lap. I broke down again as I laid my head on his shoulder, Rachel was still curled into me but snuggled under my chin so that she was snuggled into him too. He dropped kisses on to each of our heads whispering, "Thank God you're both ok," and "I love you"s over and over again until the police burst through the window.

"Police!" they shouted and Hiram pointed at the body lying behind the couch. The police quickly hand-cuffed him just in case he regained consciousness, and un-barricaded the door. The police took our statements and told us they would keep in touch. When they had left we were all still huddled together in the same way. I dropped a kiss to my daughter's head before leaning my head back to look up at the only man I had ever wanted to hold us. He kissed her head too before leaning over and kissing my lips softly.

"W-what are we going to do now?" Rachel asked meekly as she stared at the destroyed house around her.

"You guys are going to go pack a bag and are going to come sleep at my house." She looked up at me tears glistening in her eyes. "Oh baby, don't cry." I whispered wiping them away. "If you really want to stay here, I'm sure your daddy won't mind. I know you're probably still mad at me so I'll leave if you want, but I want you to know that I love you, more than you will ever know." I kissed her forehead, happy that she didn't pull away. When I went to move her, though, she threw her arms around my neck and gave me a bone crushing hug.

"I love you too, mommy," she whispered into my ear. My tear filled eyes met with Hiram's and he gently pecked my lips before enveloping the both of us into a huge hug.

"Well, I love the both of you, and I think it would be best if we slept at Shelby's house, honey." She pulled away and looked at us confusedly.

"I want to go to her house. I was just so happy that she offered." She quickly extricated herself from us and flew up the stairs to her room. "I'll be right back!" Hiram and I hauled ourselves to our feet and he wrapped his arms around me, kissing my lips, then my cheeks, then my forehead, and then my nose, before returning to my lips. He ran his tongue along the seam of my lips and I pulled away.

"Not so fast, slick," I chuckled, "go get packed." As he walked up the stairs I went to the kitchen to pack some of Rachel's vegan food.

Soon we were pulling into the driveway of my house. Rachel was out like a light in the backseat and Hiram carried her to the guest bedroom. We both tucked her in and kissed her forehead. He wrapped his arms around me from behind as we watched our not-so-little-girl sleep. "We make beautiful children," he whispered into my ear and I nodded.

"Mommy? Daddy?" Rachel mumbled from her bed and I crouched down to her level.

"Yes, sweetheart?" I asked brushing the hair out of her face, kissing her forehead.

"Can you guys sleep with me?" I looked back at Hiram and he shrugged.

"Yes. But your daddy is going to have to move you to my bed ok?"

He moved to the bed and picked her up, carrying her to my king-sized bed. I pulled down the covers and he laid her down. We changed into our pajamas, separately so as not to jump each other. I was back first and crawled into the bed behind her wrapping my arm around her stomach and kissing the back of her head. My heart screamed for joy as she shifted in her sleep and laced our fingers. I felt the bed shift again and Hiram wrapped his arm around us both hand resting on top of mine and hers. He kissed my neck before whispering in my ear, "It's only taken us fifteen years, but we finally have a family."

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**What did you think? let me know!**

**Lizzy**

**please review**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: thank you guys so much for reviewing this story! I am blown away! I honestly didn't think that people would like it at all let alone this much. I hope that this next chapter doesn't disappoint!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own glee.**

I woke up to fingers stroking my cheek. Gently fluttering my eyelashes open, I smiled up at the man before me. "Good morning, sleepyhead," he whispered before leaning down and kissing my lips. Suddenly the events of last night came back to me.

"Rachel?" I asked him trying to get out of bed.

"She's taking a shower in the guest bathroom," he resumed running the back of his fingers across my cheekbone. "I missed you so much," he kissed my forehead and my eyes involuntarily slid closed.

"I missed you too," I breathed turning on my side to face him and wriggling one of my legs in between his. I snuggled into his chest and breathed in his scent. It had been too long since I had been this close to him. His arms wrapped around me and if we didn't have a daughter to take care of, I would have never allowed him to move. "I love you."

"You too." Warmth spread from the place where he kissed my head down to my toes. "Why don't I go and get some breakfast going and you can spend time with Rachel." I nodded and with a sweet kiss to the lips we parted. "Wait! I don't know what to do!" I stated nervously.

"You'll do fine! You're her mother." He steered me towards the bathroom before going down the stairs.

I knocked on the door to the bathroom to which Rachel responded, "Someone's in here."

"Really?" I asked jokingly. "I would have never guessed."

"Oh! Mom! Give me just a second." The water shut off and I heard rustling noises as she tried to get dressed. "Did you need your shampoo?" She asked opening the door and allowing me into the room. She wore black yoga pants and a slightly large NYADA sweatshirt. Her hair was wet and she was attempting to dry it as she opened the door. "I'm so sorry mom! I tried to be done before you woke up. Please don't be mad!" the look in her eyes broke my heart.

"Sweetie," I stepped toward her and she flinched, stepping back slightly. "Baby, come here." I wrapped my arms around her and she cried into my shoulder. "Shh, honey, shhhh. Baby, it'll be ok. Shhhhh." I whispered over and over again. I pulled her with me back to my room. Sitting us both onto the bed I pulled her into my lap and rocked her back and forth whispering comfort words into her ear and dropping kisses onto her head. With every kiss she seemed to try and get closer burying her fingers into my shirt.

After 30 minutes Hiram came upstairs looking for us. Before he climbed into bed I asked him to go get her hairbrush. He did so and came back settling behind me and pulling me to lean back into his chest. I held her and he held us both for an hour. Finally Rachel's tears dried, though her breathing stated that she was awake. "When I was a teenager, if I got upset about something I would go to my mom and she would hold me, just like us now," I paused as she looked up at me. "After I stopped crying, she would brush my hair until I fell asleep. You don't have to go to sleep but do you want me to brush your hair? I'm sorry, it's the only th-"

"I'd love that," she whispered and crawled out of my lap. Hiram moved to the other side of me and Rachel laid her head in my lap. I brushed her hair marveling at how she had my hair almost exactly. It was the same color and felt the exact same way that mine does, when it's wet anyway. As her breathing slowed I ran the brush over her back a couple times causing her to fall into a deep sleep.

"I told you you would do great with her. You're her mom, it's like instinct or something."

"I just did what I know would make me feel better."

"She's so much like you," he whispered into my temple as he ran his hand over Rachel's head. "Every time I looked at her I saw you. When she started singing, I realized how much she sounded like you. She made me miss you more." We were then silent until Hiram decided that he wanted to eat my neck, literally. His lips and teeth nipped and bit at my neck and I had to use all of my self-control not to let out the very guttural growl threatening to escape my lips.

"Hiram," I breathed pointing to Rachel.

"Right sorry. I couldn't help the first kiss and then just got carried away I guess."

I laughed, "That's ok." I turned my head to look up at him. I kissed his lips and turned my attention to the sleeping girl clinging to my legs. When she awoke she looked up at me and smiled.

"Hey, mom. Daddy." She then seemed to notice his arm wrapped around me and his hand resting on my hip. "Wait!" She sat up and looked at us in disbelief. She pointed a finger at me, "Momma," I smiled and she transferred her pointed finger to the hand on my waist, "and," next was her father, "Daddy? What's going on? Are you two, like together, like as a couple?" she kept looking at us in disbelief.

"Well I'm not really su-" I began but Hiram interrupted.

"Yes, well that is if that's what your mother wants." He looked down at me expectantly.

"Of course it's what I want," I whispered back he bent and kissed my lips but only for a thousandth of a second.

"Oy my head aches!" Rachel declared flopping down on the mattress unceremoniously.

I couldn't help but chuckle at her Funny Girl reference. "Nothing aches ya built like a horse," I countered and she beamed at me.

"Wait! Don't distract me!" she laughed sitting up again. "I don't think I can wrap my mind around this." She turned to her father, "I thought you were gay."

He laughed and pulled me closer to him. "I was… sixteen years ago."

"But Leroy…" We were both shocked at her use of her other father's first name, but didn't push it.

"Well, uh," he rubbed the back of his neck, "I don't really know how to answer that. Well it's just that he w-would, uh, he would have hurt you and your mother."

"So you guys have been dating this whole time?"

"No. No, Rachel, it's not like that. After you were born I didn't seen your father until last night."

"And so you just picked up where you left off?" there was no anger in her voice only confusion.

"I've always loved your father," I told her grabbing her hand.

"Then why didn't you help him?" I saw a flash of anger in her eyes. "Or do you just make a habit of hurting the ones you _love_?" that stung. Tears brimmed in my eyes.

"First off," Hiram began gently never raising his voice, "Do not talk to your mother that way. Second it was not your mother's fault she was only doing what w-"

"Leroy told me to do. Your father fought for us to be able to keep contact but in the end,"

"Leroy's fist won. I'm so sorry you had to go through all of that because I was too scared to fight back more. But I swear I tried."

"And he did his best sweetheart but Leroy wouldn't budge." Rachel looked between the two of us. "Look I know it's hard to process baby, but, if you'll let me, I really do want to be a part of your life. I want everything to do with it. I want to be the embarrassing mom that's standing in the front screaming 'that's my baby! You go, honey!' at your competitions. I want to hold you when you're sad or if you just need a hug. I want to help you get dressed for prom. I want to be there when you get your acceptance letter to NYADA. I want to be there for all of that. If you'll let me."

She shook her head no and my heart broke. "No…" she made eye contact with me and smiled, "You wouldn't be annoying if you did that." She lunged into my arms wrapping them around me in a death grip. "I love you mommy." I sobbed with happiness and clung to her. Half-afraid I was going to suffocate her, I let go reluctantly.

"I love you too, baby." I cradled her cheek with my hand and kissed her forehead. Both of us turned at the sound of a sniffle and laughed to see Hiram trying to hide his tears. We both collapsed onto him and hugged him tight making the sniffles more frequent. "Rachel, your father just wants you to believe he's all tough when in all actuality he's just a big softy." She giggled.

"I know," she snuggled further into her father's chest. Just then her stomach growled.

"I think we had better go eat," I smiled at her and we all drug ourselves down the stairs seeing the table set with very cold food.

"Oh daddy, did you make breakfast? I'm so sorry."

"No that's ok honey. We'll just make some cereal or something and go out for lunch, how's that sound?"

We both beamed at him and he took that as a yes. We quickly settled down to eat our cereal, I had never been so thankful for having almond milk. When we finished Hiram went upstairs to take his shower.

"Mom?" she asked bringing the bowls to the sink so that I could clean them.

"hmm?"

"How did you and daddy meet? At the meeting for the surrogacy?"

"Actually no. We met the day before that. We were at the coffee shop. That's where we met. I was a barista. I had just gotten out of college and had to return home to take care of my mother. She had just died and I had become even more determined to make it back to New York and make it big. Your father was my last order before I got off. We started talking while I made his drink and we ended up sitting in the back corner and talking for four hours."

"And him being gay never came up in those four hours?" she laughed.

"Yes it did. And he told me how he and Leroy were looking for a surrogate mother for their child. I offered to do it and he told me to come over the next day to meet Leroy and talk about payment and such, and I did."

"So that's all? You just showed up and they let you be my mother?

"No," I laughed, "I had to take three I.Q. tests and had to sing a song from nearly every genre. When they were satisfied, I moved in and we began the treatments. I'm really not comfortable talking about that though."

"That's ok, they already told me," she said holding up her hand with a disgusted look on her face.

"Well it wasn't working, we had done it three months in a row with no success, but your father and I grew inseparable. He didn't work then and we would spend all day just talking and laughing. Then suddenly everything changed and I realized that I had fallen in love with him. I knew it was wrong, I mean he was gay, and besides he was ten years older than me. I was so upset when I made this realization that I cried for hours. I didn't go to dinner that evening and stayed in my room all night…..

"_What did you do to her Hiram?" Leroy screamed as the couple cleaned the kitchen._

"_I didn't do anything to her! She just decided she wanted to spend the night in her room, alone!"_

"_Well she was fine and happy this morning! What if she's pregnant and she changed her mind?"_

"_I don't think she would do that," Hiram stated not quite believing his own words_

"_Well figure it out. I'm going back to work."_

"_But you just got home!"_

"_Well I'm leaving again!" he shouted getting very frustrated._

"_Just because a young girl wanted to stay in her room for one night? "_

"_I have a lot of work."_

_Hiram scoffed, "I'm sure."_

"_What was that?" Leroy spat taking a step toward Hiram._

"_Nothing, just go if you're going."_

"_Fine!" the man ran upstairs and grabbed the bag he had for days when they fought that included a set of clothes and basic toiletries. "You had better have this figured out before I get back tomorrow or so help me," the man seethed._

"_You wouldn't lay a hand on the woman holding our child," Hiram growled growing instantly protective of the woman who had become his best friend._

"_Wouldn't I?"_

"_Go." With that Leroy walked out the door. Hiram quickly locked and chained the door before going upstairs to bed. As he walked past the young woman's room he heard sniffles. Opening the door slightly he saw her curled into a little ball in the middle of her bed. "Shell?" no response. Hiram walked over to the bed and sat next to her stroking her hair lovingly._

"_Go away," she mumbled though her tone was revealed her want for him to stay._

"_What's wrong?"_

"_I'm sorry," she mumbled curling further into herself._

"_For what, honey?" pet names were just one of the many affectionate stamps of their friendship._

"_For making you guys fight. I should have come downstairs."_

"_You didn't make us fight; he's just really stressed with work. "But hey," he pulled her face to look at him, brushing her hair and tears off her face, "What was wrong with you before? Is it about the baby?"_

_She shook her head, "No I'm not even pregnant."_

"_Ok, then what is it?"_

"_Nothing," Shelby gasped as she continued sobbing._

"_Come on, you can tell me," he cooed as he lifted her to rest in his lap and leaned against the back of the bed. It was in that moment, with her curled into his chest sobbing, clutching to his shirt, that he realized that he had fallen in love with this woman who was ten years his junior and very possibly going to be the mother of his child. "You're my best friend. I would never betray your confidence, even to Leroy."_

"_No, you'll be mad. And disgusted with me."_

"_Never," he whispered absentmindedly brushing a kiss onto her head. He had barely even realized he had done it but she did. She felt it and she tried to get closer to him, not ever wanting to be let go. He wrapped his arms tighter around her and waited for her to calm down some. When she finally had he lifted her face to look at him. "I will never hate you or anything that you do. I will never be disgusted by you. Just please tell me what is wrong with you so that I can help. I want to help you, you're my best friend. I feel helpless not knowing what to do to help you, please tell me."_

_She sniffled a couple times trying to find the right way to say it, but decided against any words at all. She leaned up and brushed her lips against his, having to feel what it felt like to kiss him at least once, even if he didn't reciprocate. "I- I think I've fallen in love with you. I'm sorry I know you're gay and that was probably really weird but I just ha-" she was cut off by his lips crashing down on hers. To say she was shocked would be the understatement of the century._

"_I think I've fallen in love with you too," he whispered as he pulled away slightly and cupped her cheek with his hand, before resuming the kiss. At first it was soft and sweet but quickly became passionate. Soon, Shelby was straddling him as her tongue explored the new land that was Hiram Berry's mouth. The kisses then became soft and sweet again before they broke apart, leaning their foreheads against each other's, both not ready to speak yet. "What do we do now?" he asked._

_She chuckled slightly, "I guess we just enjoy the time we have to spend with each other, and we'll cross each bridge as we get there."_

"_Sounds good to me. You look exhausted," he stated, concern written all over his face as he brushed the pad of his thumb across her cheek._

"_Thanks," she stated sarcastically, pulling away from his grasp and curling under her covers and closing her eyes as if to go to sleep._

"_Do you want me to leave?"_

"_You don't have to. You can stay if you want but I'm going to sleep."_

"_Can I sleep with you?" he asked eagerly._

_A smile cracked across her face and she opened one eye. "Easy tiger, I only just told you I loved you, that doesn't mean I'm going to jump into bed with you."_

"_You know what I mean," he laughed._

"_I guess. But any funny business and you're out of here."_

"_Deal." He crawled under the covers and scooped her into his arms, spooning against her._

"_You know, technically, you are jumping into bed with me," he mumbled into her ear._

"_Pushin' it," she laughed before settling back into him and going to sleep._

**A/N: Much thanks to ****embenoit**** who helped me realize that my first draft of this chapter was horrindible. I hope you all enjoyed it! Let me know what you think!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm pretty sure that this is my favorite chapter that I have ever written for anything. So please, even if you have never reviewed a story before in your life, or if you never do again, please review this chapter! I really want feedback! **

**The bold italicized is one memory and the just italicized is a different memory.**

**I don't own glee.**

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Hiram quickly finished his shower and it was my turn. I ran upstairs leaving father and daughter to talk. As I stepped into the shower the strong scent of Hiram's shampoo made my head swim with desire as the memories of the many showers we took back played in a slide show through my brain, stopping at a particular time when I was seven months pregnant…..

_**There was a knock on the bathroom door alerting the showerer. "What?" she sniffled trying to steady her voice. **_

"_**Can I come in?" came Hiram's warm and steadying voice.**_

"_**No." the door opened and Shelby could see his shadow on the other side of the curtain.**_

"_**We need to talk."**_

"_**While I'm in the shower?" she asked incredulously, immediately regretting the harsh tone her voice had taken without her permission.**_

"_**Yes, it's important." There was a pause.**_

"_**Well?"**_

"_**Why have you been distancing yourself from me?"**_

"_**I HAVE NOT!" she shouted.**_

"_**Shell…"**_

_**There was a sniffle from behind the curtain. "I'm fat and ugly."**_

_**Hiram tried to suppress a chuckle as he quickly undressed himself and climbed into the shower. She looked like a frightened deer as she tried futilely to cover her body. "Shell," he stated grabbing her wrists and pulling her to rest against his chest. "You are not fat, and neither are you ugly."**_

"_**You're such a liar!" she stated as she pushed him away from her. "I mean look at me. I can't even wash my own body because my stomach just gets in the way." She hung her head and Hiram noted how much it had taken for her to admit this defeat to him.**_

"_**Shell," he whispered grabbing her face and forcing her to look at him. **_** "I think that you are the most beautiful thing in the world, let alone the most beautiful woman." He brushed his lips against hers. "And if you needed help bathing why didn't you just ask me?"**

"_**Because," she whispered, "I didn't want you to think I was weak."**_

"_**Weak?! You think that I think that you're weak? Oh, baby," he sighed pulling her into his chest and cradling her head against it with his hand. "That is as far from the truth as you could possibly be. I think you are the strongest woman out there. And child bearing? That is like the ultimate bravest thing that any woman can ever do, in my book."**_

"_**Really?"**_

"_**Yes, really," he mocked as he poured her lavender-scented soap onto a wash cloth.**_

"_**Really, Hiram, you don't have to do that."**_

"_**I want to," he mumbled against her lips before pulling away and running the cloth across her shoulder. He began washing every inch of her body, eliciting soft whimpers when he would hit a sensitive spot. He chuckled at every noise that she made, often rewarding each encouragement with a kiss. When she felt like her legs had turned to jelly, he pushed her into the spray of the water and ran his hands over her body to get the soap off. When all of the soap was gone, she threw her arms around his neck and tried to kiss him, the passion welling up inside her too much for her to bear. "No," he whispered after a brief kiss and laughed at her frown. He leaned out of the curtain and grabbed a towel drying himself off and wrapping it around his waist then he got another and did the same to her, only wrapping it around her chest. He quickly picked her up bridal style and carried her into her bedroom, locking the door. He could care less if Leroy were to hear them when he got home, but he didn't want him interrupting. "You're so beautiful," he stated as he laid her on her bed that they had deemed theirs. She hurummphed and he continued, "I'm going to prove it to you." he stated before-**_

"MOM!" Rachel shouted banging on the door and effectively waking me from my daydream and leaving me slightly frustrated.

"Yes, honey?"

"I have to meet Finn to go over a project that we have to turn in on Monday."

"Uh-huh sure," I smiled.

"No really!" she shouted.

"Whatever," I chuckled knowingly.

"Anyway….. I'm going to meet you guys at six for dinner. Daddy said it was fine as long as you thought so."

"Yeah, that's fine baby, what time is it now?"

"Eleven."

"Ok, have fun. Love you."

"Love you too mom."

"Be careful!" I shouted but Rachel was too far from the door for me to hear her reply.

I then decided that showering faster would be my best bet so that Hiram and I could spend some time together before tonight.

"I'm through accepting limits cause someone say there so

Some things I cannot change but till I try I'll never know

Too long I've been afraid of losing love I guess I've lost

Well if that's love it comes at much too high a cost"

I sang as I finished bathing. I then stepped out and into my towel, securely wrapping it around my lithe frame.

"Holy s-! HIRAM!" I screamed as I stepped out of the bathroom and into my bedroom to find him sitting on my bed. I glowered at his chuckle. He looked so at ease sitting in the middle of my bed.

"What took you so long?" he asked nonchalantly.

"What?" I tried to sound innocent but the blush gave me away.

"You do know that you were in the shower for forty five minutes before Rachel came up to say she was leaving right?"

I mentally cursed my new water heater which made my supply of hot water inexhaustible. I had loved it when Vocal Adrenaline's boosters had given it to me but it only made it harder for me to tell how long I had been in the shower.

"Really? I was just thinking." He was now close to me and brushing my wet hair behind my ear.

"About what?" he all but breathed into my ear making my legs turn to jelly and my eyes flutter closed.

I whimpered softly, "That shower when I was seven months p-p-p-pregnant," I sighed the last word as he took my ear lobe between his teeth.

"How far did you make it? As far as I remember that is a _really _long memory."

"To when you w-were telling m-me h-how,"

"Beautiful you are," he finished.

"Were," I stated and he quickly lay me down on my bed just as he had that one day and hovered above me before untucking the towel's end and unwrapping it from around me. I gasped as his hungered gaze fell onto my body. He slowly leaned forward and brushed his lips against mine.

"You're still beautiful," he murmured.

"Thank you," I sighed as his palm came in contact with the bare skin of my hip and history began to repeat itself.

"_**I love your ears," he whispered kissing each one, "because you listen to me and everything that I have to say."**_

"I love your eyes because they are the window to your soul," he kissed each of my closed lids, "I love your nose, because it makes you….. you."

"_**I love your throat," she let out a breathy moan as his lips trailed down her neck, "because your laugh, and your voice is music to my ears."**_

"I love your shoulders," he placed a hot open mouthed kiss to each. "You seem to hold the weight of the world on them, though and I wish you would let me help you carry it." Tears began welling in my eyes as I watched and listened as he worshiped my body just as he had all of those years ago.

"_**I love your arms and how they wrap around me when we kiss," he kissed each and grabbed her hands kissing each fingertip and palm. "I love your hands, the way they fit in mine perfectly and well for other obvious reasons." She blushed and laughed.**_

He placed a kiss to my chest, "I love your heart and how you still love me after all I did to you. I love how you love our daughter with all of it and yet somehow find room for me too.

_**He moved down to her feet, rubbing each one in between his hands before kissing them. "I love how your feet are always cold, and how you always slip them in between my legs when we get to just sleep together."**_

"I love your legs," he stated as he drug his lips up one and down the other of my legs making me writhe in pleasure, "and the way they carry you so gracefully."

_**Finally he drug his lips across her stomach letting his hands cradle it. "And you are not fat. You are more beautiful than ever because you are carrying our baby." He stared at her stomach for a few moments marveling at how his and Shelby's baby was growing, hidden from the world, inside of her. Shelby let a few tears slide down her cheek as she realized that he wasn't talking about their baby, but his and Hiram's, that she just happened to be the incubator of**__._

"And I love," his lips slid over my flat stomach and he placed a long lingering kiss to the scar from the cesarean section that had saved both mine and Rachel's life, "how strong you were in that operating room. You yelled at those doctors-"

"_Don't you dare hurt my baby!" she screamed as the doctors discussed the imminent c-section. "Just let me have her! It'll be safer for her!"_

"_We can't do that, Shelby, you could die," one of the doctors stated._

"_Like hell you can't! I'm the patient you'll do what I say!"_

"_You are the living patient. We have to do what's best for you."_

"_Oh! So because she's still in my uterus, she's not LIVING!" she screamed as another contraction hit, the pain making her see black._

"_The c-section will not hurt __**the**__ baby," the doctor knew about the arrangement and tried not to humor her cries for her baby._

"_I've heard stoRIES!" the next contraction hit and she tried to catch her breath after the pain subsided. "Of doctors accidentally cutting the baby!"_

"_That won't happen I assure you. Besides this is what the fathers want."_

"_Let me see them. No actually, just let me see HIRAM!" she tucked her head between her knees as the new contraction stayed for a moment before she flopped back onto the bed. Hiram ran into the room and up to his lover's bedside, brushing away her sweaty hair from her forehead and kissing her head softly. "Tell them," she cried, tears running down her face. She screamed in agony, writhing in immense pain, as another contraction hit and the doctors became hurriedly talking. Hiram's face crumpled watching the woman he loved in so much pain._

"_Tell them what, Shell?"_

"_Tell them to let me have her."_

"_But you could die, Shell." He sighed and she barely registered his tears through her pain._

"_I don't give a damn! If it's safer for Rachel, then tell them to let me do it! At least I can do one motherly thing for her!"_

"_No, Shell, I can't let you die!"_

"_Please," she begged in a whisper before screaming again as tears ran down her face at the pain. The nurse quickly put the gas mask on her face and he had to hold her hands down to stop her from taking it off before it could knock her out. "I love you," she whispered as she slipped out of consciousness fully believing that she was dying. _

_Tears fell down Hiram's face and he kissed her forehead. "I love you too."_

_The doctors surrounded her and lifted up her gown. Hiram had to look away as they cut through her stomach and into the uterus. Her face was even harder to watch, though, as she winced, even through the gas. She was definitely braver than he had ever imagined. She was willing to give up her life for their baby. Tears streamed down his face as he kissed every inch of her head that was not covered by the mask. "Thank you so much. I love you, baby. I love you so much. I'm so sorry. I'm so very very sorry. Please know that I love you with all of my heart. No matter what. I love you." he traced his fingers over her brow. He then hera smack and a shrill cry looking up, he saw their baby. Suddenly, Shelby's eyes opened and she made eye contact with the baby before smiling and sinking back into the medication induced sleep._

"_She looks like me," she mumbled incoherently._

The tears were falling freely down my cheeks as I remembered every minute of that day. "You," he paused and laid his head against my stomach trying to compose his voice, but I could feel his hot tears against my belly. He placed one last kiss to my belly before climbing up to where his face was hovering above mine, his tears falling and mixing with mine on my face. "You were so brave. _**So brave. **_And I was so cruel to you. After watching all of that, I was so cruel to you." he leaned his forehead onto my chest and I ran my fingers through his hair.

"Hey, it's ok. I know why you did it. You were only trying to protect me from further heartbreak." I pulled his face up to meet my eyes, "which you did. I still love you, with all of my heart." I grabbed his lips in mine and we kissed each other senseless. Before either of us knew it he was naked too and hovering above me as if asking permission. "As if you even have to ask," I mumbled against his lips, and we made love for the first time in sixteen years, but it was just as amazing and mind blowing as the first time, all of those years ago.

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**A/N: So like I said I really liked this chapter so even if you have never reviewed a chapter or if you never review again, please please please review this chapter! It would mean the world to me so please do it! For me? please?**

**Love,**

**Lizzy**

**(: Please Review :)**


	4. Chapter 4

We arrived at 5:45 at Breadsticks. Sure we were a little early, but we wanted to be just in case Rachel was. At six on the dot, Rachel walked into the room looking slightly off. I brushed it aside though, the last twenty four hours would have been rough on anyone, though personally, I had no idea how she was taking it so well.

"Hey Rach!" I smiled as I hugged her.

"Hey mom….. daddy." She sat down and we ordered our drinks. Hiram and I shared glances over the meal for Rachel was not her normal self. She was barely talking and even I knew that was weird. After dinner we silently drove to my house. As soon as we arrived at the house Rachel was up the stairs and in her room.

"I wonder what's up with her," I voiced out loud and Hiram just shrugged.

"Maybe you should go talk to her."

"Ok," I stated not quite sure what I was supposed to talk to her about. As I went to knock on the door I realized that it was cracked slightly and Rachel was pacing back and forth. Suddenly she let out an exasperated sigh and flopped down onto the bed. I took that as my cue and walked in without knocking. I sat beside her and ran my fingers through her hair. "What's wrong, baby?" I asked as softly as I could.

"I want to do it."

I furrowed my brows in confusion, "Okay? Do what?"

"But I don't want to do it either," she buried her face further into the comforter, "I just don't think I'm ready!"

My eyes flew open as I realized what she was talking about, I knew I would eventually have to talk to her about this, from the female perspective, but I hadn't expected it so soon. I gracefully but quickly got off the bed and ran to the door.

"Where are you going?" she squeaked almost desperately.

"Shhhhh, baby I'm just shutting the door. Don't want your dear old Daddy to walk in on this conversation do you?"

"No I guess not," she mumbled as she laid her head in my lap and I continued to run my fingers through it. She seemed to relax at the gesture and for some reason, it relaxed me too. "I mean it's just sex right? That's what Jesse said."

My eyebrows shot to my hairline. "Wait! Jesse? Like Jesse St. James? Like my Jesse, Jesse?"

She looked amused at my reaction. "Yes that Jesse."

"I'll kill him," I muttered and she looked amused.

"Good. He deserves it after the egging." She quickly covered her mouth and my eyes narrowed.

"What egging?" I seethed.

"Don't worry about it," she tried to play it off.

"Rachel, I said what egging?" we were both shocked at the mama bear tone coming out of my voice.

"Well Jesse texted me one day and said meet him outside. I thought he wanted to make up so I went. As soon as I stepped into the lot a whole bunch of Vocal Adrenaline kids stepped out from the cars and egged me."

"When was this?" I stated trying to control my anger.

"A couple of days ago," she muttered.

"And you didn't tell me?" I asked slightly hurt.

"Honestly? I didn't think you would care. It was part of their funking and I thought you would say that they didn't mean it." She looked down at her hands. "I wouldn't have been able to handle that."

"Oh, honey," I sighed pulling her into my arms. "I'm going to kick their butts. Believe me. I am going to work them so hard that they won't be able to move the next day but then they will have to move the next day for rehearsal." I kissed the top of her head and added, "No one messes with my baby and gets away with it." She stiffened slightly. "Oh do you not like me calling you that? I'm sorry I didn't even ask."

"No, I love it. I love it a lot." She smiled at me and I pulled back from the hug slightly.

"Now about the other thing."

"Oh," she shifted her gaze away from me and her cheeks turned an impressive shade of red. I gently tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead readying myself for this very awkward talk.

"Rachel, it isn't just sex. There are so many emotions that go along with it. People like to pretend that there aren't any but believe me, there are. Don't do it until you are completely one hundred percent ready. Remember it's about you as much as it is about him so don't let him pressure you into anything. And if a guy isn't willing to wait then obviously he doesn't love you enough or respect you enough to receive that very special one-time gift." I had had this conversation with many of the girls in Vocal Adrenaline throughout the years but it never seemed so important to me that the person I was talking to completely understood what I was saying. Don't get me wrong I love all of my kids on VA but Rachel… well she's my daughter. "Is Finn pressuring you?"

"What? No!" she seemed shocked that I would ever even suggest it. "We were just….. kissing today," I smirked knowingly but had no idea how I felt about my sixteen year old daughter even thinking about having sex, "and I just really wanted to do it, but I didn't feel ready so I pushed him away. He was the perfect gentleman and we just went back to studying, well as best as we could anyway."

"Well that's good, Finn seems to be a really nice guy."

"He is. You should meet him sometime. Although," she giggled.

"What?" I asked her laughter contagious.

"He's terrified of you."

"What?" I laughed loudly.

"You scare the bejeesus out of him."

"Really? Well that's good." We both laughed for a while before she got serious again.

"Hey mom?" she asked looking slightly embarrassed.

"Yes sweetie?"

"Could you…. maybe just….. could we- well do you think maybe we can just lie down and you could hold me for a little while? I feel like I'm growing up too fast and I kind of feel lightheaded and just want to feel like a kid for a minute, you know? Not that I want to act or be treated like one. I just want my mom to hold me for a little while." I smiled and pulled her to me, lying back and cradling her head against my chest and under my chin.

"Anytime," I whispered and we both fell asleep listening to the other's breathing.

A couple of hours later I awoke to the feeling of two hands pulling off my shoes. "Shhhh," Hiram's soft voice soothed my fears as I settled back down, still holding tightly to Rachel. When he had taken our shoes off he pulled a blanket up to cover Rachel's shoulders. He kissed both of our foreheads before placing a lingering kiss to my lips and sliding out the door.

**A/N: a Rachel/Shelby moment that everyone has been asking for! Oh and if you're looking for another Rachel/Shelby moment go check out my one-shot "Liquid Courage" and let me know what you think of that too.**

**Lizzy**

**Please Review**


	5. Chapter 5

Not wanting her to wake and find me gone, I stayed with Rachel after I woke up and reveled in the ability to hold my baby, for however fleeting this chance might be. Sure enough she began to shift in her sleep but only to bury her face deeper into my chest to hide her eyes from the sunlight that was cascading into the room. I tightened my hold on her and kissed the top of her head. I could tell by her breathing that she was awake but made no mention of it so as not to ruin the moment. "You didn't have to stay all night," she breathed.

"I know, but I didn't want to let you go." _Crap!_ I thought after the words stumbled out of my mouth. _Did I say too much?_

She kept her arms around me but looked up into my eyes with tears in her own. "Really?" she whispered.

I smile broke out across my face, "Yes really."

"You would rather cuddle with me than with daddy?"

"Yeah. I don't know how to explain it but it's like…. I mean don't get me wrong, I love your father to death, I would do anything for him, well almost anything. But the love I have for you is different and so much stronger. I would literally do _anything_ for you. I don't know if I could make it if, heaven forbid, something happens to your father, but I know I would die if anything happened to you." she smiled but I don't think she quite understood what I was saying. "There's nothing to compare with the love you feel as a mother. I don't think you'll fully understand until you are one yourself, but let's make sure that you aren't one anytime soon," I laughed bopping her on the nose.

"Definitely! I have to get my Tony before I can have kids!" I laughed at this comment and we settled back into a comfortable silence just holding each other and making up for all of the times that we weren't able to before. Fifteen minutes later there was a knock on the door before Hiram's head poked into the room.

"Good morning!"

"Morning Daddy!" she stated getting up and jumping into his arms.

"Well I made breakfast. Maybe we should go eat it before it gets cold," he laughed as Rachel playfully glared at him and stalked downstairs. As I made to move around him an arm slid around my waist and pulled me into a warm and inviting chest as lips searched for mine. Greedily we nipped and sucked on each other's lips before we decided that we had been absent from our daughter too long and walked down the stairs.

We spent the entire day watching movies and eating all of our favorite foods. "Are you going to work tomorrow?" he asked huskily into my ear, as we lay spooning in bed that night.

"Rachel's going to school, so I think I probably should go to work."

"Awww," he growled into my ear before nipping down my neck to that spot just above my collarbone that drives me insane.

"W-why?" I managed to choke out. I knew why but I wanted to hear him say it.

"Well I was hoping that we could go and drop Rachel off and then spend all day in bed until six when we have to pick her up after glee. That's nearly ten hours of non-stop-"

"Yeah I get it," I breathed knowing that if he finished his sentence that I was a goner.

"Come on," he whispered into my ear. "You just won Regionals, give your kids some time off."

"They had this weekend off," I gulped as his hands slipped under my shirt to draw patterns on my belly.

"One more day can't hurt."

"We have Nationals," I breathed as his tongue left a wet trail along the slope of my neck. My resolve was nearly gone.

"How far away is it?"

"Two months," I growled as he blew cold air onto my wet neck.

"Like I said one more day won't hurt."

"Ok," I mumbled as he kissed my cheek.

"Good girl," another kiss and he settled back behind me, stilling his hands.

"I can't believe you!"

"What?" he chuckled.

"You get me so turned on that I'm putty in your hands and then you leave me hanging!"

"You seem much firmer than putty," he stated squeezing mu butt.

"You know what I mean!"

"Yeah I know. Just means you'll want me more tomorrow." He pulled me further back into him and we drifted off into sleep filled with very bad (in a good way) dreams.

**A/N: So I'm not quite sure how I feel about this one, so I'd love to hear what you think! Please tell me!**

**Lizzy**

**Please Review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I am sooooooooo sorry that I didn't get this up for so long. I had such writer's block on this. Thanks to ****stokette**** who helped to unstick me.**

**I do not own glee... obviously.**

Eight weeks have passed since the day I got my family back and, though we have had some rough patches that just naturally come with having a teenaged daughter, we had a great time assimilating to living together. It actually surprised me how fast we had all adapted, especially Rachel. she hadn't asked many questions yet but I figured that she was still getting used to the idea of having me around, her father not being gay like she had always thought and having her father and I become a couple. A very affectionate one at that. Though we tried to keep our touches and kisses to a minimum when she was awake and to absolute none when she was with us, there were times when she would walk in on us kissing or playfully teasing each other.

Our life was perfect. That is until we got the call that instilled a constant worry into all of our hearts. Leroy Berry had been given bail and he had posted it. He had been told that if he came near any of us he would be sent right back to jail and be stuck there until his trial. Despite this though, Hiram and I feared for the safety of our daughter. Taking off of work and pulling our daughter out of school as soon as we heard, we drove home to talk to her and explain the importance of the steps she must take to ensure her safety for the foreseeable future.

The girl looked highly confused as to why both of us had picked her up and why I was on the brink of tears, but Hiram and I had already decided to wait until we were home to say anything about it and both of us were too preoccupied to discuss anything else. We pulled into the drive and into the garage. As soon as we were in the house, I wrapped her in my arms, kissing the top of her head over and over again as tears sprang from my eyes. I was just happy to have my daughter safe and in my arms, in our home, her father there to protect us both. Normally I would have scoffed at such a statement thinking that I may be a woman but I can take care of myself. I felt differently then, though. I was frightened. Every closing of a door made me jump. Every sound had me looking for Leroy over my shoulder. I was scared for myself and for my child and the only man I trusted to protect us was currently checking every closet, nook and cranny, and making sure that all doors and windows were locked.

"Momma? What's going on?" Rachel asked into my chest, clearly frightened. I walked her into the living room and sat on the couch, releasing her so that she could look her father, who had just walked in, and me in the eye. "Daddy?"

"Rachel…. L-Leroy has gotten out." Shock spread across her face, quickly replaced by fear. "He got bail and paid it… now he's out." I choked on a sob that was trying to erupt from my chest but I contained it.

We quickly explained the things she must be sure to do from now on, like make sure we know where she is at all times, to never post on Twitter or Facebook where she is or what she's going to be doing, to tell her friends to not tag her in any posts that did so, and to always have her cell phone on and with her. She nodded and I could see her mentally taking notes in her head, careful not to forget anything.

"I-I think I need to lay down," she mumbled as she got up and kissed us both on the head before heading up the stairs.

"I need a drink," I growled as I walked into the kitchen, took a shot of scotch, and leaned over the counter using my hands against its cool surface as a brace. I saw Hiram's hand reach under me to take the glass and I knew that he too was drinking though from the number of clinks of the glass, he had taken four to my one. Soon after the last clink of the glass, his hands began running comfortingly over my back making me sigh. "I feel so helpless," I whispered. He turned me around and I buried my head in his chest, relishing in the warmth that overtook my body.

"Mom?" Rachel called from upstairs.

"Yes baby?"

"Can you come here?"

Placing a chaste kiss to his lips, I pulled from his embrace and walked up the stairs, to find Rachel's bed undisturbed. Having an inkling as to where she may be I walked to my room. I was right. The sight before me brought a fresh round of tears to my eyes. The way that she was wrapped up in the middle of my bed, huddled under my covers made her look much younger than her fifteen years. I sat on the edge of the bed. "Yes?"

"Never mind, I'm sorry."

"What is it sweetheart?" I asked knowing there was really something on her mind.

"Can you lay with me please? Just until I fall asleep? You don't have to stay long." I silently slipped off my shoes and climbed into the bed, wrapping my arm around her waist and moving my body to curl around hers protectively spooning her and holding her close.

"I'll stay as long as you need or want me to," I whispered as I brushed her hair out of her face and kissed her head, smiling as she tried to scoot farther back into me.

"I'm scared momma," she whispered.

"I know you are baby. I am too, so is Daddy, but we'll be ok. We'll get through this, ok?" she nodded her head and soon her breath began to even out signaling that she was asleep.

I began to get out of the bed but her hand grasped mine and pulled me back, "Please stay."

"Ok," I whispered, settling back in as she turned to her other side and wrapped an arm around my waist.

"We'll be ok. We'll keep each other safe," she mumbled softly and with a breath finished, "I love you mommy."

"I love you too baby."

**A/N: once again, I am so sorry for the delay but I hoped you liked this! Let me know what you think!**

**Lizzy**

**PLEASE REVIEW**


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